Review: Equinox Desktop Environment 1.2

The Equinox Desktop Environment is a small memory footprint desktop environment built on top of the extended FLTK toolkit (‘Fast Light Tool Kit’). EDE features a desktop, a Windows-like panel with ‘start’ menu, taskbar, and system tray, support for theming, and graphical front-ends for software installation, xscreensaver configuration, and much more. Linux.com took a look at EDE version 1.2.The review starts by explaining that if you use Debian/Ubuntu, you most likely need to build EDE version 1.2 yourself, as the available Debian/Ubuntu packages are outdated (v1.1). Luckily, the EDE team has written a script that will download and compile the eFLTK and EDE sources for you, after which it installs them into /usr/local and adds it to GDM.

Linux.com details the various parts that make up the default desktop environment: an xterm launcher on the desktop and the panel. The panel holds a start menu, taskbar, quick launcher, workspace switcher, CPU monitor, and a system tray. A control panel lets you configure everything from fonts to screensaver through various applets.

I like the clean, simple, and well-integrated way these applets function. For example, the screensaver dialog offers just the basic things you would expect from it: graphics style and activation time. There’s also a power management part that lets you explore further options, but it is clearly separated from the rest. Even a front end to basic software installation from the RPM, DEB, and TGZ package formats is included in the control panel.

There are downsides too, the biggest of which is that EDE does not yet adhere to Freedesktop.org standards, hindering interoperability. “For example, it didn’t show the icons that were in my Desktop/ folder, preferring its homegrown $HOME/.ede/desktop directory,” the author writes, “Interoperable drag and drop seems to be an unknown protocol to the desktop component, too. EDE’s menu system doesn’t seem to follow the widely accepted menu specification used by package installers, leaving it up to you to manage it.”

Still, the author is satisfied with EDE.

In summary, the EDE project is on its way to achieving its core goal of providing a fast and small working environment for users. If you like innovative user interfaces like tiling window managers, you won’t be happy with EDE. Its focus is on being a conservative lightweight environment. With minor modifications, such as correcting the drag-and-drop functionality, it would be ready for deployment in a production environment. Unfortunately, development seems to move at a slow pace, so don’t count on things being fixed in the near future.

I think this DE shows great promise, especially to Windows refugees. The entire desktop seems reminiscent to Windows (of various vintages) and that’s not a bad thing. This would be great for users who want a familiar environment or those using older hardware. Overall another great alternative to the “Big 3”: Gnome, KDE, XFCE…

EDE 1.2 is packaged for Mandriva, with some customizations to fit in better and use more appropriate applications in its (hardcoded!) ‘Start’ menu, and a task-ede package which installs EDE plus all the applications listed on the Start menu. Any Mandriva users wanting to try it out, just make sure your repos are configured and install ‘task-ede’.

Being a longtime Windows user myself from Win95 all the way up until XP just a couple years ago, EDE had me interested from the start. I recall using it in STX, and while nice, it needed polish–which I expected it to get eventually. I later compiled it from source in my distro of choice, Zenwalk, and after fiddling around with it, I got it to start.

Now, I’ve compiled the latest version and installed it… and I’m stuck in the exact same place: actually getting it to start. Simply “add startede to .xinitrc” as the directions say doesn’t work (I’ve tried adding to both the beginning and the end); Xfce still starts. Doing too many changes to the file leads to X not starting at all. Hopefully I get it soon, or I’ll give up. I’m not finding much help searching Google. It doesn’t add itself as an option to xwmconfig, either.

I think this is EDE’s biggest problem… it aims to be an easy, familiar, Windows-like interface… but virtually no distros support it, meaning compile-and-screw-around-trying-to-get-it-to-work if you really want to try it. STX showed potential, but the project completely lost sight of its goals and went to hell… from being a lean and unique Slackware/EDE-based distro, to just another Slack with Xfce (why? There are already plenty…), to (even worse…) PCLinuxOS with Xfce (now known as SaxenOS, btw).

Now, I’ve compiled the latest version and installed it… and I’m stuck in the exact same place: actually getting it to start. Simply “add startede to .xinitrc” as the directions say doesn’t work (I’ve tried adding to both the beginning and the end); Xfce still starts.

Maybe the instruction isn’t clear enough. Your ~/.xinitrc may only contain one (!) statement to start the desired window manager. It should be the last line in this file and should look like this:

exec startede

Look out for a prior “exec xfce” or “exec xfwm” statement and comment this line out.

Further explaination (for educational purposes): The file ~/.xinitrc is processed when X is started. It may contain many lines, usually ending with &, to start a program “in the background”, or do other settings. Example:

xmodmap ~/.xmodmaprc

xterm -title “Terminal” &

xbiff -geometry 50×50+0+716 &

exec wmaker

All the lines are executed, and the X server finally starts the program specified by exec. The server runs as long as this program runs – usually the window manager or the desktop environment. When the program exits, X exits, too.

Doing too many changes to the file leads to X not starting at all.

I think this depends on the kind of the changes. 🙂 Maybe you should look for a xinitrc script with higher precedence if you feel that your local changes (local to your user) don’t take effect.

Hopefully I get it soon, or I’ll give up. I’m not finding much help searching Google. It doesn’t add itself as an option to xwmconfig, either.

I hope I could help you a bit, at least by giving a starting point.

I think this is EDE’s biggest problem… it aims to be an easy, familiar, Windows-like interface… […]

You can achieve a similar goal by using IceWM with a customized theme, if you like it old fashioned. 🙂

I’m always keeping an eye out for lightweight DE’s to help speed up my laptop (not that old, 1.7Ghz, 512RAM) and to help keep it remain snappy. I managed to install an older version of EDE, and it seems okay but the hardcoded menus killed it, since I dont like going back and re-editing the entire men. But I did manage to find out that LXDE is back on track for anyone looking for a good alternative to EDE.